Report: Joel Robles’ Everton exit under threat, rival Premier League club partly to blame

Follow us on Google Discover

Joel Robles was expected to return to La Liga this summer after rejecting a contract extention at Everton.

With Joel Robles appearing to have no future at Goodison Park, the prospect of a return to Spain with Deportivo La Coruna was a welcome lifeline.

The Madrid-born shot-stopper shared goalkeeping duties with Maarten Stekelenburg under Ronald Koeman last season but the big-money arrival of Jordan Pickford from Sunderland appears to have pushed him down to third place in the pecking order.

As such, the Liverpool Echo reported that Joel was set to leave Merseyside this summer with just one year remaining on his contract. And Spanish daily Marca reported that the former Wigan Athletic ‘keeper, who followed Roberto Martinez to Goodison Park in 2014, would be offered an escape route by Deportivo.

The Galician side are in need of a new shot-stopper after long-serving veteran German Lux returned to Argentine this summer and Joel, who has not played in Spain since moving to Wigan from Atletico Madrid four years ago, appeared to be their first choice.

However, Marca are now reporting that that deal is off because cash-strapped Depor cannot afford to meet Everton’s asking price.

This, the report adds, is partly due to their desire to stump up enough cash to convince Arsenal to sell them Lucas Perez, the Coruna-born forward to left for The Emirates twelve months ago.

The Standard report that Arsenal have already rejected an offer of £11 million for Lucas and are demanding Depor stump up around £2.4 million more.

And though Joel has rejected a new contract at Everton, he may be forced to stay on Merseyside for the upcoming campaign with Depor turning their attention towards alternative targets, including Sevilla back-up David Soria.